Saturday, July 14, 2012

SAC: Keeping warm

It was rather cold at times so an important part of preparation was making sure we'd be able to keep warm, particularly as this particular Contessa 32 had no heating.

Three things helped:

1. Layer up. I think I had 8 layers (t-shirt, long sleeved shirt, base layer, jumper, mid layer, fleece, salopettes, oilskins) or maybe 9 (another long sleeved shirt) plus of course the lifejacket etc. It was heavy but worked

2. Bivi bag. The bivi bag lent by my friends A. & D. (who I sailed with from Lisbon to Gibraltar) was fantastic. Get inside the sleeping bag (fully dressed) and then inside the bivi bag and it would be warm and snug

3. Thermal mug. This was my treat: at the start of the watch I'd fill my LifeVenture mug with hot tea and it would keep warm until the end of the watch whether three or four hours.

2 comments:

Bursledon Blogger said...

You've reminded me why we sailed south!!

JP said...

It was worth it, to sail in those waters, and the cold not too bad when sufficiently prepared.